


Time Solves All

by Genuinelies



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bring Back Black, F/M, M/M, Pining, Sirius/Remus is the ship, True Love, crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 10:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13587774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genuinelies/pseuds/Genuinelies
Summary: A Bring Back Black fic centered around the creative use of timeturners, and the unrequited love between Sirius and Remus (happy ending guaranteed!)Or:Remus' ghost appears to his son Teddy, and with the help of some friends they try to bring everyone the ending they deserve.





	Time Solves All

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a couple years ago, thought it was too weird to share, and then just decided to go with it. So I hope you enjoy it despite timey-wimey situations and probably unbelievable circumstances.

“Hullo, Teddy.”

Teddy Lupin let out a terrified shriek, and he was man enough to admit it later. “Expecto Patronem!”

“No, no, that’s not going to-“

“Finite incantatem!”

“That’s very good form, actually, and it would work, if I were-“

The back of Teddy’s knees hit his bed, and he fell backwards onto his covers, his wand still held in front of him in his shaking hand. He was only in fifth year. He didn’t have more than that to draw from. “Mu-eek!”

The man had startled toward him, enough to break off his (cowardly) call to his grandmother. He was pointing one finger toward his nightstand. Unwillingly, and half expecting to see another intruder, he instead focused on the picture of his deceased parents. Disbelieving, he looked back and forth between the stranger and the photo several times before resigning himself to the fact that he might very well be hallucinating.

The man – the rather transparent man, Teddy now saw – bore an uncanny resemblance to his late father. Although the smile that then-Remus Lupin wore while holding his young son in arms was wide and toothy, and this version wore a twist to his lips that was self-depreciating at best.

“Good, I knew you’d be bright,” the ghost sighed. “I just don’t think I have it in me to deal with Andromeda quite yet. The Blacks are quite used to living with ghosts, as I’m sure you know by now, but they’re usually inventoried spirits, not the long-unseen apparition of your son-in-law.” The figure straightened, as if realizing he was doing a poor job of introducing himself. “And I’m sorry for that, Teddy. But I wouldn’t do this to you unless it was absolutely necessary. I’m Remus Lupin, your father.”

Teddy felt his face doing contortions. He was half ready to scream for his grandmother again, but something about the wariness on his self-proclaimed father’s face stopped him from doing so. He scooted up gingerly until his back touched the wall. He took comfort from its firmness. “Okay,” he said.

Remus blinked at him. “Okay? Okay. Well, I suppose that’s a fine reaction. I am sorry for leaving you alone all these years, although I’d be lying if I said my life hadn’t gone exactly as I’d expected it to. I really had no business being a father.” His amber eyes roamed over his son, then he jerked. “Not that I wasn’t chuffed to be one! You were the brightest point of my miserable life, while I had you.”

Teddy blinked back. “I’m going to be honest. I don’t know if this is a very strange dream, if I’ve gone round the bend, or if I actually am talking to my dead father, who hasn’t been arsed to show his face in, oh, the past decade or so of my life.”

The older man grimaced. “I have been watching, although, yes, that doesn’t sound much better, does it? I thought it would be best if you weren’t plagued with a ghost your whole life. You seem to be happy here, with Harry, and the Weasleys, and your grandmother.”

“Is Mom…?”

“No, my boy, I’m sorry, but I believe she passed on peacefully. I, however…I knew I had unfinished business, but I never imagined it would keep me here so long. It seems fitting, of course, to pass from being a dark creature to another form still less-than-human.”

“Is it…me? Keeping you here, I mean? Is there anything I can do?”

His father looked immeasurably sad. “It isn’t, but there is, despite that, something you could do. It’s why I’m showing myself.”

Teddy straightened further. He hadn’t ever imagined meeting his father, not for real, but even in his fantasies he would have never have guessed it would be like this. He had been drilled into with the idea that the dead were gone forever from an early age. Everyone in his life seemed to be afraid of giving him false hope. For a time after he’d been at Hogwarts and become acquainted with Myrtle and Nearly Headless Nick, he’d secretly hoped he might meet his parents in the same way, but after so many years he’d stashed that thought away and moved on with his life. But here his father was, at long last, and it sounded like he had something of a quest for him. There was no question in his mind that he’d do it, whatever it was.

“You can’t stay, can you.” Teddy couldn’t make it into a question. He knew the answer.

“Well, I could, actually,” Remus corrected him. “I seem to have forever on my hands. Which is rather the problem, you see. Having forever, though, we can get to that later. We’ll have a while to talk, if you would like.” Hopefulness and the first genuine smile of their encounter appeared on his face, opening up his features as if they’d been illuminated by sunlight. “But later. Have you heard the name Sirius Black?”

“Of course,” Teddy was confused, and befuddled. Why would his father think otherwise? “Uncle Harry – he’s my godfather, but I’m sure you know that – and Mum always talk about him. Cousin James is named after him, after all. He always sounded pretty cool. I kind of would have liked to meet him, actually.”

Remus’ smile got wider. “And do you know how he died?”

Teddy frowned. “Well, during the war. No one ever says much more than that he was protecting Uncle Harry.”

“Fair enough.” The smile was gone again, quick like shadows on the ground under a cloud. “I need to tell you he didn’t die. Not really.”

That had Teddy shooting straight off the bed. He made to grab his father’s shoulders and stumbled as his grasp went right through his form. It didn’t deter him. He flailed about. “Not dead! How do you know? And just, how?”

His ghostly parent shrugged. It was simple and brief. “He’s not here.”

“Couldn’t he have passed on, though?”

“Ah,” Remus’s mouth quirked. “He could have, but he wouldn’t have. Far too many regrets. You should have seen him, Teddy, after he was free of that place. Azkaban prison. You know the story?” He raised an eyebrow, and continued at Teddy’s nod. “He was obsessed with his godson. With Harry. Riddled with regrets. I’m sorry to him and to you if that makes it sound like he was less of a man, but I firmly insist it made him more of one. He wanted so badly to atone for mistakes that were never his own. But I know in my…” his hand trailed over the spot on his breast where his would have been, had he had a body. He seemingly lost himself to thought for a moment, then recovered. “He would have been here, not resting in some afterlife, or whatever comes next. He would have been helping Harry, even from beyond the grave.”

“But Uncle Harry’s fine,” Teddy said.

“Certainly. But to a parent, the worry is always there,” his father’s face softened, and Teddy turned his own face away, embarrassed. “Even after death.”

“I have so much to ask you,” Teddy said. “So much I want to know. About you. About Mom.” He thought he was grown up, but his voice broke. “I wish you’d been here.”

“You have no idea,” Remus Lupin said, “how much I do, too. But for now, Teddy. Please. I can’t wait any longer knowing there’s something that can be done, and not doing it. I can’t sit idly by for a third time. I need you to bring Sirius Black back from the Veil.”

Teddy didn’t know how to respond to that, so he took a moment to look, really look, at his father. His clothes were rather ragged, charred and covered in mud in places. They were sensible clothes, and well-worn, under all that. Not anything like the Tonks’, which, while not ostentatious, did not speak of poverty in the same way. He had never really asked were they poor, or were they rich – only if they had loved him, what they had been like. He wondered what his life would have been like had he grown up with this man and his animorphmagus mother. The man he saw before him looked weathered by life, but there were laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, and even in death there was a sparkle of intelligence and humor to be found behind his gaze. His shoulders, though hunched, spoke more of wanting to conceal power, rather than not having it. He imagined that perhaps it would have been somewhat less quiet than the one he had with Andromeda Tonks, and he couldn’t help but regret that, no matter how much he loved her.

“Okay,” he said finally, simply. “Should we go find Uncle Harry first? I imagine he’d want to see you, in your, ah, state or not.”

“Sirius Black is not dead!” Remus responded, somewhat harshly. “And I need to make sure he’s where he belongs. Here with the living. With Harry, his godson. Your Uncle will care a great bit more about seeing him than me, believe me.”

Suddenly Teddy had an inkling of what might be holding Remus to this realm. He held up his hands. “All right, all right. Yes. Don’t worry.”

Remus calmed, the fire in his eyes subsiding. “Yes, well. It’s been a very long time, you see, and I can’t imagine waiting any longer. Not when I can finally do what I should have the first time.”

“The first time?”

Remus’ gaze became distant. “I never stood by him. Not when I should have.”

Uncomfortable, Teddy sat back down again, this time in the chair at his desk. He pushed at a pencil until the apparition spoke again.

“It’s taken me, as I’ve said, a very long time. I’ve had to lurk around and read over people’s shoulders to piece it all together, but finally, I’ve found it. The Veil is in the Department of Mysteries because they never really quite knew what it did, you see. But there are some very old texts about it. Instances where voices of the supposedly dead were heard coming out of it. Which, I thought, might just mean they were ghosts, like me, and stuck somehow over there. But then there was one instance where someone of the same bloodline of the supposedly deceased performed some very dark magic – and don’t worry, it’s not what I’m asking of you – and was able to sense the living energy, the actual body, of the person who had fallen through. That might not sound like a lot to go on, and it isn’t, except for this: being one who is dead myself, I know we can’t take our physical bodies with us to the afterlife. Even not properly dead, I can still know that much for certain. But Sirius’s body, all of him, fell through that Veil. And the curse used on him was not a killing curse.”

That sounded extremely weak to Teddy, but he wasn’t sure he had the heart to correct Remus. He stopped playing with the pencil and tried to school his face into something less pitying.

“Oh, I know how this sounds, don’t worry.” Remus gave him a lopsided smile. “It’s not all, though. I continued my research. There’s a lot of documentation of the living going through the Veil and not coming back, but only one instance of a ghost going through. It was a woman by the name of Penelope Pratt. And can you guess what happened?”

Teddy shook his head.

“She came back out.”

Remus was looking at him expectantly.

“I’m sorry…Dad,” he tested the word out hesitantly, but the ghost beamed at him, so he decided that whether or not it felt awkward was irrelevant. “But ghosts are tied to the realm of the living because of regrets. It would make sense that a ghost couldn’t remain behind the Veil if it were truly the land of death.” He tried to keep his tone kind, but there really wasn’t a good way to say that. “…right?” He tacked on.

“Sirius Black hasn’t come out of the Veil,” Remus insisted. “And he would most certainly be a ghost.”

Teddy’s head was beginning to hurt. He desperately wanted to call for his grandmother. She had known Remus in life, maybe there was a trick to getting him to see reason.

“I must sound insane to you,” Remus mused, echoing Teddy’s very feelings. “But I’m not done. Penelope had gone beyond the Veil because she had lost a loved one to it, a worker at the Ministry of Magic by the name of Abelard Higgins. They had been betrothed. She committed suicide not long after, sadly. This is all kept in a very rarely published edition of a personal diary, by the way, if you’ve any mind to read it, it’s kept-“

“Dad,” Teddy interrupted, “Please, go on.”

“Right.” Remus began a long and winding tale.

“Ooh-kay,” Teddy said slowly, interrupting Remus, who really didn’t seem to be making any connections to his theory that his long-dead friend was still alive. “Can you wait a tic? I need to – I’ll be right back.”

The ghost of his father blinked at him. “Oh. Yes, all right then. You will be back?” His gaze turned shrewd.

“Yes! Right back. Ten minutes, tops. Just, uh, just wait here, then, yeah?”

Remus took to walking – floating, really – around his room, looking at his shelves of school-related awards, personal books, and other miscellanea.

Teddy gave his back a short nod, though it was really to himself to bolster his confidence, and he ran to the floo the next room over.

#

“Hullo there Teddy, everything all right?” Harry Potter peered at the face of his godson in the floo. Teddy’s hair was a lurid chartreuse, never a good sign, in his opinion. It was still weird for him, even after all these years – and this was a private, secret thought, one that Harry didn’t even like admitting to himself – but it was still weird for him to see the face of his composed professor in the young animagus. He knew that Tonks and Professor Lupin had made each other happy, but they were such an odd match. “Well, obviously, it’s not all right, or you wouldn’t be looking for me, would you? What’s happened, then?”

Teddy looked relieved at not having to slog through small talk. “This is going to sound very odd.”

Harry, the former boy-who-lived, the man who had seen more unbelievable things as a child than he could count, simply smiled. “Try me.”

“Okay. Well. I think my da’s come back as a ghost.”

Harry stumbled back. Of all the things he had been prepared to hear, that was not even on the list. He remembered to stick his head forward again so Teddy could see him. “I’m sorry, what?”

“My dad. Remus Lupin. He’s…well, he’s back. In my bedroom, actually. I told him I would just be ten minutes as well, so I think we ought to hurry. I was hoping you’d come and…” Teddy trailed off, running his hand through his hair, which was becoming even greener and longer, as though the boy was hoping it would hide his face.

Harry blinked at him a moment, then decided he had in fact heard his godson say that his former Professor had come back from the dead. In a way.

“I didn’t know people could do that,” he said.

“What?”

“Come back. As a ghost. After they’d died, that is, and gone…well, Teddy, the thing is…you see, I had talked to them all. My parents. Sirius. Your father. They seemed…well, I’m not sure ‘happy’ is the right word, but…at peace. They’d moved on.”

“I’m sure it’s him,” Teddy said. “I tried a patronus spell, you see. And ‘finite incantatem’. Neither worked.”

“Good boy,” Harry said absently, wondering. “Well. I’m coming, there’s no question about that. Let me just go tell your Aunt Ginny…”

Teddy’s face was worried. “Come soon, please.”

“I will just be a moment.”

Harry backed away from the fireplace and took off his glasses, wiping them on his shirt.

After he went and found out what this was about, he would have to talk to Hermione, he decided. If anyone knew of a precedent for a happily-dead person coming back as a troubled spirit, it would be her.

“Ginny,” he called, turning from the room. “Ginny, love, don’t be alarmed but something’s happened. I have to go to the Tonks’.”

#

“-so,” Remus Lupin was saying. “I figure if the ghost can go and come back, then it must not really be death behind the Veil.”

“I’m very sorry,” Teddy said. “But I’m still not following. Ghosts can’t go the afterlife. So wouldn’t it make sense for a ghost to be able to go through and back?”

He’d been saying the same thing over and over for possibly fifteen minutes, ever since he’d gotten back from his brief conversation with his godfather. Remus wasn’t having any of it.

“I’m not sure why I came here,” his father said suddenly. His face was a wreck of frustration and sadness. Teddy’s heart twisted to know he’d put it there. Fifteen years he hadn’t seen his dead father, and this was what he did to him?

“I’ll help you, Dad,” Teddy said in a rush. “Somehow. I’m sorry.”

“Yes,” a voice came from the doorway. “We’ll definitely help you, Professor. We just need to figure out how.”

Teddy whipped around to the sight of his godfather, in jeans and a t-shirt, smiling crookedly at them both.

“Teddy?” Remus said uncertainly. “You brought him here? You did this?”

Fear raced down Teddy’s spine. “Um, yes?”

“Well.” Remus said. “Well.” He looked first at Teddy, then Harry. For a moment, he appeared to be absolutely defeated.

Harry looked at Teddy and gave him a warm smile, before turning that same look to Remus. “It’s good to see you, Professor Lupin. It’s been a long time.”

“It has, hasn’t it,” Remus said morosely.

“In fact,” Harry pressed on, “the last time I saw you, it well, seemed to be the last time. You were with my parents. And Sirius Black. Do you remember that?”

Remus froze for a moment. Then he looked confused. “I was, wasn’t I?”

“You were…and please forgive me for saying this…but you were all, well, dead.” Harry had lost his smile. It was the most serious, and the most sad, that Teddy had ever seen his godfather be.

To Teddy, these people were just stories. But his godfather looked as though he were about to cry.

He had just been studying, he mused. That was it. It had just been a normal Sunday afternoon. Yet somehow, in the course of an hour, he had managed to make both his godfather and his father’s spirit look like that. Remus was right to question why he had shown himself to his son. He couldn’t do anything right.

“And at peace with it,” Harry pressed on, oblivious to Teddy’s struggle.

“I was, wasn’t I?” Remus murmured.

A long silence filled the room.

“Your parents seemed so happy,” the ghost mused after a moment. “It’s not a place, exactly, but a phase. You’re there but you aren’t. You’re everywhere and nowhere. You’re with others, but alone. It’s anything you want, really, except every so often I would be with him. And things felt wrong.”

“And Mom?” Teddy finally asked with a lump in his throat.

“Yes, your mother too. She was always a free spirit, though, Teddy. In death as well as life.”

“And?” Harry prompted.

“And the more wrong it felt, the more I wasn’t. There, I mean. And the more I was here. To be honest, boys, I can’t remember all of it. It’s been fading. This must have been…oh, Teddy, you looked to be about ten when I started looking in on you. I am sorry. I know that must be a shock to hear.”

Teddy felt a blush take over his face. All this time, his father had been watching out for him after all?

"So you finally showed yourself, after all this time," Harry prompted again.

"Because I think I found the answer!" Remus exlaimed. "Sirius is not dead. He can't be. And I have proof."

 Teddy bit back a sigh as Remus launched into his story of the woebegone, dead mistress and her woebegone, dead Ministry lover yet again. Harry kept making little, jerky movements with his mouth, as if he kept beginning to frown but stopped himself from doing so each time.

“Professor,” Harry began.

“Remus, please,” Remus barked out a laugh. “You seem adult enough, what with a family of your own, and I was a professor really only for the shortest of times.”

“Right then,” said Harry. “Remus. You’ve told us a story of two people who were, ah, romantically involved. You do realize that?”

Teddy felt something unpleasant tickle his throat. “Uncle Harry?”

Harry blinked at him from behind his glasses. “Sorry. Perhaps you should wait outside. There’s something I’d like to ask your father.”

Remus, meanwhile, had a look on his face that was part fear, part grim acceptance, and part amusement. It was the oddest expression Teddy had seen on anyone’s face, actually. Remus was standing – or what passed for standing, for a ghost – very straight, his shoulders squared as if he could stretch himself away from them both.

“No, please,” Teddy said. “I’d like to stay. I want to help him.”

Harry sighed. “Did you know, Prof-I mean, Remus, that Hermione made a comment to me, all those years ago, right when you found us in the Shrieking Shack, after Sirius had bit Ron’s leg? I forgot it for the longest time.”

“She was a clever girl,” Remus murmured.

“Still is,” Harry grinned brightly. “In fact, I’d like to ask for her help with your…question. Later, if that’s all right?”

Remus nodded. He seemed wary.

“Anyway. What she said. That is, what Hermione said, was, ‘they seem awfully close, don’t they?’ And I never thought anything of it. Because I was and am very close with my friends. They’re my family. Just like my mum and dad, and Sirius, and you. But you aren’t here asking about how to go back and stop my parents from dying, are you?”

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Remus looked sad, but not regretful.

“Because they’re all right, where they are,” Harry said gently.

“Yes,” Remus said. “I believe they are.”

Harry nodded. To Teddy, it seemed like he’d just gotten an answer he knew was coming, but didn’t like, anyway. “But you and Sirius,” Harry prompted. “You and my godfather.”

Remus’ glance flicked between him and Teddy. Teddy had a feeling of what answer his godfather was looking for. It was a weird thought – not in general, he had plenty of friends who were that way, and it wasn’t like they lived in the stone ages, now was it? – but weird, because he knew if it were true, then why was he even alive? Would that mean that his own father wished he never was born? What about his mother? Teddy sat down in his desk chair, and clenched the rim of the seat with his hands. He felt sick.

“He never knew,” Remus said softly. “It wasn’t like that, you know. I didn’t even know, until after we were all dead and it was simply too late.”

“It’s a regret,” Harry suggested.

Regrets, Teddy mused dully. The reason a ghost even comes into existence. It wasn’t not raising his own son, or even that his wife had died. It was that he’d never shagged his dead male friend.

“Teddy,” Remus said suddenly.

Teddy looked up. His father’s eyes were piercing.

“I did love your mother,” he said, firmly. “And I loved you, I love you, very much. But Sirius’ death…it just felt wrong. It felt wrong then. It felt wrong in the…afterlife, I suppose you could call it. And the more time I spent there, dead, the more everything just seemed to be off-kilter, somehow. I began thinking to myself, if only I had another chance, maybe I could fix it. It never seemed right that he was there. Padfoot was always so full of life, you know. So animated. Do you remember, Harry?”

Harry nodded. His face was serious. Then, without even looking at him, his hand settled on Teddy’s shoulder, in a gesture of comfort.

Teddy blinked up at him. Thankfully, he was ignored, except for a gentle squeeze.

“So you want to bring him back.”

“Yes.”

“Remus,” Harry sighed. “I’m sorry. But hear me out. Sirius is dead. He was with you in the afterlife. I spoke to him, and you, and my parents, like I said, when I had the Resurrection Stone. The Veil is death. That’s truth, and no matter how much I wish it, Sirius Black is dead.”

“No!” In a fit of anger, Remus knocked all the books off of Teddy’s shelf onto his bed, accompanied by a gust of cold air. A second later he looked contrite. “Oh. Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll just-“ He tried to pick up a book, but his hand passed through the cover. He sat down onto the bed and put his head in his hands.

Harry looked at Teddy. Teddy could only look helplessly back.

“Right then,” Harry said. “If you don’t mind, I need to go get Hermione.”

#

“To be completely honest,” Teddy’s Aunt Hermione said, in a voice that was surprisingly calm for someone who was just confronted with the ghost of a former friend, “I did always wonder why you four weren’t ghosts.”

“You four?” Harry echoed.

“Yes,” Hermione said, in her I-think-you’re-quite-stupid-but-I-like-you-enough-to-explain-voice, “Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Your dad and his friends, Harry. Well, maybe not your dad. Sorry. Your parents seem to have did their best, though, didn’t they? I mean, think about it. Peter Pettigrew…well, we don’t really need to go into that again, do we? Remus, you’ve been treated unfairly your whole life because of your status as a werewolf. And Sirius Black had possibly the most unjust life out of anyone I’ve known. He failed to save his friends. He got sent to prison for a terrible crime he didn’t commit. Then he’s free, only to get killed, after all that? Why wouldn’t he have regrets?”

“Actually,” Remus broke in. “I’m not sure he did have regrets, Hermione. Maybe about not being there for Harry. But he did save him, and I think that brought him some peace.”

“Yes, I know,” Hermione said. “Which is why I didn’t really keep thinking about it, after. But here you are, aren’t you.” It was a statement, not a question.

Teddy felt badly for his father. He looked like his aunt had just knocked him one.

“But you aren’t trying to save yourself,” Hermione mused. “You’re trying to save Sirius. And,” her eyes flicked to Teddy, briefly, “Harry did fill me in on his thoughts as to why. I did wonder about that, too.”

“Of course you did,” Remus Lupin’s ghost sounded wryly weary. “Brightest witch of our time.”

“But times were different from you,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And even for us, growing up. But now, with Teddy’s generation…I almost wonder as if your spirit sensed it. The difference in people’s attitudes. And maybe it got you thinking.”

“No, that’s where you’re wrong,” Remus smiled a small, self-depreciating smile. “I always thought it. It’s not as if I’ve ever conformed to society. But I was used to keeping secrets. And during my life, I guess it never occurred to me to question my feelings toward anyone in particular, though. I was close to those I loved. I was happy, until everything fell to pieces, and of course any feelings I might have discovered were ripped to shreds.”

Teddy was slowly worrying away a good row of his jumper, pulling the threads apart methodically.

“Molly gave you that,” Hermione said reprovingly.

Teddy stopped fidgeting.

“I’m sorry, Teddy,” she said kindly, quickly. “I know this has to be all very, well, very shocking for you.”

“It hasn’t been more than two hours since I met him,” Teddy agreed, not wanting to feel sorry for himself, but not quite sure how not to, either. “And…”

Remus wrung his hands. “This is why I should never have been a father,” he muttered. “I’m making a mess of it, even from beyond the grave.”

Teddy flinched.

Hermione’s and Harry’s hands landed on Teddy’s shoulders, protectively.

“Remus Lupin,” Hermione said in a steely tone. “Your son is sitting right here.”

Teddy’s father looked distraught. “I’ve done nothing but apologize to you since I appeared, I know, but please, accept even more apologies. I should have been here for you. You have to know that when I say these things, I never mean for you to think I don’t love you. I’m happy you exist. I’m happy so many of my…” there was a pause, as if he were searching for the right words. “…my friends have become your family in my stead. I know that will never be enough. But I hope you’ll never know what it’s like to regret something so deeply that you feel it even after you’ve left this earth. I just need to fix it, somehow. I wish I could go back in time, and stop all of it from happening the way it did. I think that’s why I’m here. Something went wrong.”

“Fix me, you mean!” Teddy exploded suddenly and bitterly. “Make it so I don’t even exist!”

“That’s not it!” Remus cried. “I swear.” He began pacing, shaking his hands together in agitation. “I just…I just need to…he’s not meant to be dead.”

Harry and Hermione were patting Teddy’s shoulder in unison. He didn’t think they were aware of it. At least _they_ didn’t want him gone, he thought resentfully.

After a long moment passed in silence, Hermione spoke up. “The thing is,” she started, “I’ve been thinking about what happened in the Department of Mysteries for a long time.”

“You have?” Harry and Remus spoke at the same time, in the same confused tone.

“Well, yes.” Hermione dropped her hand absentmindedly, as she began walking the small room, tracing Remus’ footsteps. “I thought about it quite hard in fact, right after it all happened. Harry, you were so distraught, and I was afraid…” she glanced at Teddy, then seemed to come to some sort of decision. “I was afraid Voldemort would get the better of you in that state. And we had used the time-turner once before to save a life.”

“Yes, I’ve thought about that too,” Harry said. “But it was before they were actually killed. Remember?”

“And if whatever you thought about could have happened, wouldn’t it have already?” Harry said. “Our future selves, back then…well, our past selves experienced what they did. In the past. So nothing really changed, because what was going to happen, had already happened.”

Teddy couldn’t even begin to parse that, so he didn’t try.

“It’s just that,” Hermione began, “Looking back, it still doesn’t seem as though everything happened correctly. Even though we won, mostly. There were just so many senseless deaths. And yes, I know that’s war, and anyone who’s really been in one or lived through a time with war in it will say that, and it can’t be helped, except that’s not really true, is it? We have a way to do it. It’s just that wizarding society has decided that it isn’t right, and they’re too afraid to try. But I’m not sure I agree with that.”

“It would be too risky to change large events,” Remus said slowly. “You know, Hermione, I thought I could bring Sirius back to his life now, in this time. But what you’re suggesting is changing the past, using a time-turner. Isn’t it?”

Hermione fixed Teddy with a firm look. “This cannot leave this room, unless we say otherwise if we go forward with the plan, is that clear?”

Teddy frowned at her. “Is whatever you’re going to do. That is, you said a time-turner.” He tried and failed to keep the panic out of his voice. “If you do what he wants I’m not going to exist anymore!”

Hermione smiled at him. “No, Teddy. I’ve thought of that too.” She frowned. “Although, of course, there is always the risk that no one will do as I say, as usual. So I don’t want to lie to you. There is a slight chance of that happening.” Hermione sat down heavily on the bed, next to Remus. “Oh, bother.”

“But if we don’t do it,” Teddy murmured, looking at his father. The ghost’s face was drawn and miserable. “He’ll remain like this forever. Even after I die. Even after everyone dies.”

“Generally speaking,” Hermione answered, “There has not been any incidence of a ghost finding peace without resolving their regrets.”

“Which is impossible, since he’s trying to bring back someone else who’s already died,” Teddy finished.

Hermione nodded. Harry squeezed his shoulder.

Teddy closed his eyes. They felt hot and damp. He imagined himself, at the end of his life, looking back on this moment. Would he regret having the chance to save someone’s life? Would he become a ghost like his father, then? Or would he move on, despite knowing he’d left his father to suffer forever on earth?

He opened his eyes to both living adults watching him carefully. Remus was staring at his hands, folded in his lap.

Teddy squared his shoulders. “Okay,” he said, “You say you have a plan, to make sure I still exist and all even if…even if things change. I think if we can save Sirius’ life and help my dad rest in peace then we have to do it. No matter what. I don’t think I could live with myself otherwise.”

Remus looked at him with so much gratitude that Teddy’s chest ached. “Brave boy,” his father murmured. “Thank you.”

His Uncle Harry’s expression was unreadable as he met Teddy’s eyes. “This is a very noble decision you’ve made,” he said, softly. “But it might be a sacrifice. The biggest. Do you understand that?”

Teddy smiled at him, even though he didn’t really feel like it. “Sometimes in order to do the right thing, you can’t just think about what you want. It’s about what will be best for everyone. I think that’s what all the stories about what you and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron and mum and dad taught me growing up. Except none of you really had a choice. So since I do, I feel I should make it.”

Harry looked as if he had tears in his eyes. “All right, then. Hermione, what’s the plan? Should we get Ginny and Ron in on this?”

Hermione worried her lips. “No, I think it’s best if we keep it between us, at least, well, at least right now. We’ll need their help in the past, though. I’m not sure what doing that much time travel would do to a person, actually, or I would have done it before now. But first, Teddy, love, do you have some parchment we can use? This plan is going to require a lot of very careful instruction. To ourselves, that is. Past and potential.”

#

Ginny Weasley stuck her hand in the loose floorboard by her bed, the secret spot she’d kept her diary safe from multiple very nosy brothers for her entire life, and let out a surprised squeak. There was something in there with her journal, and it had tickled her hand.

Wishing she were allowed to do magic away from Hogwarts so she could cast a lumos spell, she gingerly reached in again and felt around. Finally her hands closed over a lump with what felt like string around it. That must have been what had brushed her fingers.

She pulled it out, and was surprised to be looking at a package, a note folded neatly on the top. She narrowed her eyes and looked around her room thoroughly, but couldn’t find any sign of Fred or George…

…oh, bugger. Right. Not George, then.

She took a minute to compose herself. She’d spent enough of her young life crying, and it wasn’t going to bring him back. _He died a noble death,_ she repeated her usual words to herself, firmly. _He knew what he was doing. We all did. And Voldemort is dead and the world is safe because of him and all the others._

Well, maybe it was Fred, then. Wouldn’t that be good? He hadn’t wanted to pull any pranks since their brother’s death, not that she blamed him, but he just didn’t seem to be himself without the mischievous side of him showing through.

Her fingers hovered over the string.

What if it were another trick, though, like Tom Riddle’s diary? Hadn’t she learned her lesson?

“Ginny!” A voice suddenly whispered. It was a terribly familiar voice, and after a moment she realized it was Harry’s. Blushing she looked around again before realizing the insistent words were coming from the package itself. “This is Harry. We don’t have much time. I’m from…well, this is going to sound very hard to believe, but – well, just read the note. But please, Ginny, hurry.”

Frowning, she pulled the piece of paper loose and opened it up.

_Dear Ginny,_ it read. _This is going to sound very hard to believe, but this is Harry, and I’m from the future. We’ve been using – that is, you, Hermione and I – have been using a time-turner to go back in time. We want to prevent Sirius Black from dying._

_Yes, I know this sounds like, well, not a very good idea, but we believe it’s important. It’s not just for me, you see. In the future, Remus Lupin has come back as a ghost. Even Hermione isn’t sure that’s happened before. But he seems to think that Sirius wasn’t supposed to die, and I have to say that I believe him, if it was so important that he left a peaceful afterlife to tell us that._

_I have to admit, these words sound a little funny to me, even as I’m writing them. You see, it wasn’t me, exactly, who saw the ghost of the professor, but a future me, I suppose. I was given a note much like this. You’ll have to copy this note exactly, but you should personalize it, and please leave it, with the time-turner once you’ve used it, along with the other note that’s enclosed, for Hermione. We’re switching off turns so we don’t chance seeing ourselves, you see._

_The important thing is, we need to stick to our schedule exactly, so that Hermione is the one to reach Sirius in the Department of Mysterious. We feel that she will do the best job blocking Bellatrix’s spell, when it comes down to it. I have to say I agree. I’m not certain I would be able to go in there with a cool mind._

_I suppose if this note gets back to her, perhaps we can all talk about this. We can help keep each other on schedule, I suppose. Every three weeks, one of us will be travelling back in time. Once the time turner has gone all the way to the past, Hermione will need to put it in a safe at Gringott’s with all of the notes and instructions, to be delivered to Teddy Lupin by owl on June 20, 2021. This is very important. No matter how the future changes, we will still need to go back in time and prevent Sirius Black from dying, or I’m not sure what will happen to all of us._

Ginny felt her eyes widening until they hurt as she read the rest of the instructions. They were very complicated, but Harry ended with:

_You kissed me at Grimmauld Place, in the kitchens while everyone else was having that row at dinner. Kreacher caught us at it and wouldn’t stop making those disgusting kissing noises for a week. You’ll want to include a note like this for Hermione as well, or she might not believe you._

_All my love,_

_Harry_

_P.S. It might do to tell all of us, in our past, how terribly everything turned out. In case it turns out better, because of what we’re doing, and we forget how very important this is._

Ginny’s hands were trembling again. It sounded extremely dangerous, what they were doing. But it was already a year past Sirius’ death, and that meant that she was one of the last to get this package, and the notes. Which meant her future self was just fine, no matter how hard it seemed to spend more than a decade in constant time-travel. It was better than being dead, like Sirius, and Professor Lupin, and Tonks, and…

…and George.

Maybe this one thing could change everything.

She squared her shoulders, and swallowed around her nerves. She could do this.

She had to.

#

“You complete and utter berk!” Remus exploded. “What were you thinking?”

“I almost died, and you’re yelling at me!” Sirius yelled back. “I was thinking of saving my godson! Which I did, if you didn’t notice!”

“Barely!” Remus snapped. “Barely!” He hit the wall so hard that several paintings let out screeches and wails and curses on interlopers to the House of Black. He shot them all baleful looks.

“This bloody house!” Sirius shrieked, kicking the wall, which did not help matters. “Look here. We’re alive. Harry will be okay. We’ll just need to keep a closer eye on him, is all. Please, don’t be mad at me, Moony. I had to leave. I couldn’t just very well leave him to his fate! It would be like…” Sirius raked both his hands through his unruly dark hair. The fine fabric of his robes was singed in spots from the fight they’d just endured at the Ministry of Magic. Harry and his friends had been lured there, tricked by Voldemort’s cronies, and Remus shuddered to think how very close to dying all of them had been.

“It would be like James and Lily, all over again,” Sirius continued, looking at him imploringly. “And this time I would have deserved to go to Azkaban, if I’d let death eaters kill my godson. I would die for him, Remus. I would die for him!”

Remus put out placating hands, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say he wanted to shake the man in front of him with them. “All right. All right, Sirius, I know.” He sighed. “They’re safe, because of you. You aren’t wrong about that. They’re just – they’re just children.” He spun around on his heel and paced the room, before coming back to stand in front of his friend. He felt all the anger leave him. “I just…where in God’s green earth did that spell come from? I think you would have been knocked straight into the Veil.”

Just saying it sent shards of ice down his throat. He had been so close to losing his last real friend, and his dearest, for the second time in his life.

Sirius let out a shaky breath, and finally it was apparent to Remus how shattered his friend was about his close call as well. “I have no idea,” he said, wonderingly. “Not the foggiest.”

#

Life went on, at Grimmauld Place, as did the war. Harry, Hermione, and Ron left on their own to track down the remaining horcruxes, much to the dismay and increasing agitation of Sirius Black. He became almost intolerable to live with.

Remus, for his part, tried to stay as close to him as he possibly could despite that, without smothering his housebound friend. He had never really believed in true second chances, not with how his life had gone to date. But as Sirius slid into petulance, rather than unpredictable anger, Remus began to relax, or at least as much as he could with everything else that was going on. Muggles were being killed and tortured, and he wasn’t sure he really believed any of them were going to make it through this war alive. He tried to believe, for Harry and Sirius’ sake, but he had never been much of an optimist.

So when Dumbledore came and asked him to go live among Fenrir Greyback and try to win the favor of the werewolves, or at least a pledge of neutrality, it wasn’t much of a surprise to Remus. In fact, it felt rather like going full circle.

“Where are you going?” Sirius cornered him finally, the night before he was set to leave for the camp. “Why haven’t you told me?”

Perhaps it was the stress, or just more than a decade of unresolved issues between them, but that perfectly normal and acceptable question was what pushed Remus over the edge.

Or possibly it was guilt over what he was about to do. He knew full well it wasn’t a healthy course of action, no matter how necessary it was. And he also knew full well that Sirius wouldn’t allow it if he knew.

“This!” He cried. “This. Do you remember, what happened to us before the first war, or did dementors take that from you?  Lack of trust, Padfoot, old friend. Let’s not repeat bad history. We have a second chance.” Inside, Remus cringed at the words. _No second chances,_ a small, internal voice said. “Let’s not muck this up. I’m going away on Order business. It might be for a while, but I will be back. I promise. These are Dumbledore’s orders.”

“Dumbledore,” Sirius spat, as if he hadn’t just flinched away from Remus as if he’d been slapped. “Fine then. Keep your secrets. I know how you love them. Do you remember, what it took for James and Peter and I to get you to admit to being a werewolf, even though you were perfectly aware we were on to you?”

“Yes,” Remus replied quietly. “And do you remember how relieved I was when I could finally tell you. You were my first real friends. I haven’t forgotten, Sirius.”

The other man looked abashed, despite the angry set to his jaw. “Are we all very certain that Dumbledore has our best interests at heart?”

“I do believe he has the greater good in mind,” Remus answered.

Sirius gave him a long, piercing look, but said nothing to that.

Remus left the next day.

#

When Remus returned from his venture, utterly exhausted and violated to the very core of his soul, Sirius’ face was once again plastered over every Wizarding publication in the world.

“Sirius Black,” the headlines read. “Pardoned.”

The articles beneath them were much more colorful, ranging from just-the-facts Ministry pieces attempting to play down the enormous injustice that had been done to lurid, mostly incorrect accounts of his tragic history and current mental health (authored, of course, by one Rita Skeeter).

Suddenly, Remus’ heavy shoulders felt a bit lighter. One good thing, then, had happened in all the midst of this horror.

Unfortunately, Remus soon found that in his absence, Sirius had embraced his newfound freedom wholeheartedly.

But who was he, to begrudge Sirius spending time out late at night?

Who was he to begrudge him the bottles of firewhiskey that began appearing around the house, Molly and Arthur’s reproving and worried looks be damned?

Who was he, to begrudge Sirius coming home early in the morning, with his hair mussed and frilled shirt askew, lips appearing red and bitten?

That last bit only happened, once, Remus amended to himself. Thankfully. But once was enough. Sirius might be pardoned of all false accusations, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t still in danger, just as all of them were. Voldemort was still gaining power, and death eaters were everywhere. And really, just because he was pardoned, didn’t mean that every witch and wizard knew it. He could still be at risk from some random person trying to accost him and take him in to the Ministry.

And, if somewhere deeper in his consciousness, he knew that none of those things accounted for the hot flash of jealousy and sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, absolutely no one was entitled to know.

“Sirius,” Remus tried to caution him, “We’re – the Order, that is – we’re still in hiding. I know that it’s been a very long time for you, and I appreciate that you’ve missed most of your adult life up to this point, but –“

“There shouldn’t be any buts,” Sirius said warningly. “And not from you. You’ve been gone for months, Remus. You don’t get a say in how I live my life. I’ve been locked away and abused. I deserve this, and not ashamed to say that. Now, are you ready to tell me where you’ve been, or is this discussion over?”

Remus smelled firewhiskey on his breath. He reined in a sigh. “All right,” he said.

“All right?” Sirius looked shocked.

“Yes, all right. It’s over now, anyway. I was successful. I went to live among Fenrir Greyback and his wolf pack. We needed them on our side in the war, and at least they’ve agreed to stay out of it, which was really the only good outcome I saw coming from all of that.”

“You what,” Sirius growled.

“I’m not repeating it,” Remus said wearily.

“So,” Sirius looked at him, his grey eyes taking in everything from his head to his toes and possibly his very soul, from how intensely he met his even gaze. “That explains it.”

“Explains what?” Remus asked, suddenly nervous.

“Why you came back from your little vacation looking like death used you for a dishrag,” Sirius spat.

“Yes, well, it’s over now,” Remus said.

“And you didn’t tell me!” Sirius screamed suddenly. “Because you knew I would stop you!”

“Yes.”

“I said never again!” Sirius spat.

“Never again, what, Sirius?“

“I pledged that I would never stand idly by while…look. I said never again. And you didn’t let me.” He pointed a finger at Remus, but after a moment, he slumped suddenly. “Fine,” he muttered, and left the room.

Remus shifted on his feet, unsure whether to follow or not.

In the end, he decided that Sirius would eventually see reason, if he left him long enough to his own devices. His moods were often unpredictable and fast like a summer thunderstorm, but they usually blew over. 

He went to find Nymphadora Tonks instead, because they had struck up a somewhat unlikely friendship, and at least he knew she was likely to try cheering him up.

#

“I’m going out,” Sirius announced brightly.

“Do be careful,” Molly Weasley said, looking very disapproving. She had knitting needles clacking away in front of her. Arthur, thankfully, was looking better from his ordeal, reading a paper quietly beside her.

“She’s right,” he said, looking up, though the expression on his face was distracted. “We really shouldn’t be leaving unless it’s important.”

“It is important,” Sirius said firmly. “I’m going mad. I need an outing for my mental health.”

Remus frowned at him from where he sat drinking his tea and reading up on lesser-known counter-curse spells. “Where to?”

“I do believe we’re not sharing that sort of information with one another until after the fact,” Sirius said snippily, and left in a whirl of velvet robes.

“What was that about?” Tonks muttered, raising an eyebrow at Remus.

Remus looked at her. She smiled, and fluttered her eyelashes, making them grow ridiculously long and turn purple before giggling and setting them right again.

He smiled crookedly at her, and considered. Out of the corner of his eye, he was heavily aware of Molly watching them and pretending not to.

“Would you want to go up to the library with me,” he asked quietly.

“Ah, yes,” she said cheerily. “I’m sure there’s loads of research we should be doing.”

Her hair turned a lively, fetching pink. She slipped her hand into his on the way up the stairs. It made maneuvering together rather awkward, but it ended with him bending her over the desk in his room, so it worked out in the end.

Until, that is:

“Remus,” she breathed happily.

“Sirius,” he huffed out in pleasure.

“Oh,” Tonks said.

“Oh,” he echoed.

#

Remus Lupin was a man of secrets, and so with his realization about the true nature of his feelings toward his longtime friend came very little change. He knew that times had changed, and that even in the muggle world men like him would not be vilified everywhere, and especially not in London. It was a much lesser secret than being a Dark Creature, in fact. That was not the problem.

The problem was that ever since the Department of Mysteries, he had felt a chasm widening between him and Sirius, when all he had wanted since finding him again was to rekindle the friendship they had held as children. He wasn’t sure what Sirius’ reaction would be to the news that his very male friend fancied him. Perhaps if they were still younger, and at Hogwarts, Remus would have considered it. There wasn’t much that couldn’t be written off to the folly of youth.

He was surprised to find that he wasn’t conflicted about his preferences in the least. Rather, it was like a puzzle piece had finally clicked into place. He had never been that interested in anyone romantically, largely due to his status, and his fear over passing on werewolf genes, or endangering another person because of his condition. Now, though, he saw it was because he had been interested in someone all along. He had never wanted anything, because he had never needed it. He was perfectly good at wanking, and having Sirius as friend had been enough at Hogwarts. The betrayal and the deaths of his closest friends had effectively killed all desire to open himself up to anyone, even for the briefest of times, after that.

Now, though. Now they might really be approaching the end, and Remus had found, with a vast amount of surprise, that he was lonely, and had been, for longer than he cared to recall.

He wished deeply that he had never awoken to his desires. Tonks was wonderful. She was trusted by the Order, and thus by him. All his friends and acquaintances approved the match. She, bless her, cared not one whit about what he was. She would have made a wonderful partner, and there was some part of him that was deeply bitter toward Sirius, however unfairly, for ruining that for him.

Then, of course, there was the not-small question of Sirius’ preferences. Remus remembered girls at school, and a lot of insufferable bragging, but never any girlfriends. Not at Hogwarts, and not after, even with the bar-goers and barmaids alike chatting him up when they went out, all five of them, he and Peter and James and Lily and Sirius, to let off some steam. He had nothing to go on.

_It doesn’t really matter, though, does it?_ Remus thought to himself bitterly. Not when everything was beginning to feel like it did, before. With him running off on his own, and Sirius going wherever he wanted without letting him know, and neither of them communicating.

_What could have been,_ Remus thought to himself wistfully. If that first war had never happened. If they had had time to grow up. _Could it have happened? Would he have realized how he felt toward Sirius?_

It was so obvious to him, now. But with all the social norms and hierarchies of their little group in place, Remus couldn’t honestly say he would have been that self-aware.

Now, though. Now they were living together, eating meals together, seeing each other for most of their day, every day. Without Prongs around to steal Sirius’ attention, and Peter to keep Remus occupied while the good-as-brothers duo plotted pranks and dared each other into one idiotic exploit after the next.

_It’s always been you,_ Remus thought, a little despairingly. _Why is it so important to me now?_

Perhaps, he realized, a trifle guiltily, it was because he had always taken Sirius Black for granted. He had lost him once to Azkaban, and at the time, that was good riddance. But getting him back, and then almost losing him at the Department of Mysteries, had made Remus especially aware that there had been a hole inside of him, one that didn’t exist so long as Sirius was alive, and near him.

He had quite mistakenly discounted that as friendship.

A knock came at his door. Remus looked up from his desk, where he had been looking at the same page for more than an hour.

“Come in,” he called, pleased his voice didn’t crack.

A very nervous-looking Nymphadora Tonks came in. Her hair was the mousiest grey Remus had ever seen.

“Tonks?” He asked, cautiously. “What’s wrong?”

She gingerly shut the door. “Remus. Before I say this, I know, I know it can’t work out. I thought it before, but after what happened, I really don’t think it ever could. Whether or not you and he…I mean,” she broke off, blushing furiously. Her hair dulled even further. “But you’re the sort of man who would. Would try, I mean. But you shouldn’t, and that’s okay. We’ll do our best.”

“Dora,” Remus said, “Tonks,” he corrected, “What is it?”

“I’m pregnant. It’s yours. There’s been no one else.”

She gave him a wobbly smile, then burst into tears.

#

“So, you and Tonks. My cousin. My much younger cousin,” Sirius Black leaned against Remus’ doorframe, not-so-casually inspecting his nails.

“Once,” Remus said, looking up from his book. He was reading on his bed, trying to take his mind off his very permanent future troubles. “Which isn’t a secret, since it’s not a secret that she’s pregnant, so I do hope you have a point.”

Sirius straightened, suddenly. His fists went to his sides as if they were rooting his arms to the floor. “Is there nothing, nothing, left that you feel comfortable sharing with me?”

Remus looked at him, stricken and silent.

“I see,” Sirius said, bitterly.

He whirled as if to leave. He had one foot into the hallway, when he turned around again to face Remus, slamming the door behind him.

“What haven’t I done?” Sirius’ voice broke. “I didn’t kill them, Moony, but it feels as though you still think I did.”

Remus shot to his feet. “No. No, Padfoot, not that. Never that.”

“Never again that,” Sirius countered.

“Never again,” Remus promised, and found that his hands were shaking. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“Please, let’s not do this again,” Sirius looked at him pointedly, then slapped a hand into the wall. “You and I. Me and you. We’re all that’s left. Some days I think it was all a dream, what happened before, but then you’re there, and I can remember. But now you went and…” Sirius gave him an unreadable look.

“Why does it bother you so much?” Remus said softly. “Or am I not allowed to love.”

“Because she’s!” Sirius looked like he was searching for words, but ended up not completing his statement. “Do you? Love her?”

“In a way,” Remus said, “She’s having our child.”

“With your furry little problem, that’s not very responsible of you, now is it!”

It felt like a physical slap. “Well, it’s done with, and she’s having it, so there’s not much to do about it now.”

“And that’s it, then?” Sirius jutted out his chin.

“That’s it,” Remus said, knowing that there was so much else to be said and having absolutely no idea how to begin saying it.

“You’ve always been insufferable!” Sirius cried.

“Tell me! Tell me, then, how I should live my life!” Remus tore at his hair.

“Honestly!” Sirius jabbed a finger at him. “Honestly. Finally. For once!”

Remus stood there, shuddering under Sirius’ gaze.

“Do you have any idea,” Remus said lowly, dangerously, “What that really means?”

Sirius was breathing heavily.

“Have you been drinking?” Remus frowned.

“So what if I have? I’m of legal age and have most of my unhappily sober life to make up for,” Sirius sneered. “Besides, it’s the only way to live here with you, when all I can do is remember things that are gone.”

For the briefest of moments, Sirius’ face had fallen, and instead of angry, all he had looked was sad.

Remus stepped forward, a hand held hesitantly out. “Sirius.”

“I should go.” Sirius took a stumbling step backward. “I’m sorry, Remus. I’m sorry.”

“Padfoot. Wait.”

Sirius looked up at him. The walls that had crumbled stayed down, and Remus could see the boy that he had known behind the wear on his friend’s face, wanting.

Remus frowned. “You don’t smell of alcohol.”

“That’s because, despite your baseless accusations, I am in fact not drunk. Sorry to disappoint you, but my temper is mine alone. You should be used to it by now.”

 “Are you sure?” Remus asked quietly. “Are you sure want honesty from me, a Dark Creature?”

“Moony, I’ve only ever wanted to know your secrets,” Sirius breathed. His lashes were dark on his cheeks. Once, his skin had been flawless, but the lines he had now, no matter how troubling their origin, were only a cause of endearment for Remus.

Remus brought their mouths gently together. It took some coaxing, but soon the kiss deepened, and neither man protested it.

When they finally parted, Sirius was giving him a wry, sideways smile. “I was never sure, Moony. Not enough, at least.”

“Of what?”

“That you knew how you felt.”

Remus didn’t even know how to react to that.

“So what of dear Dora?” By Sirius’ smug tone, he wasn’t worried, however.

“Oh,” Remus said, then laughed. “She knows. By Merlin’s saggy balls, you’ll never let me live that one down if I tell you.”

Sirius looked at him, hesitant now, wary. “But you will tell me?”

Remus sobered. He brushed a thumb over Sirius’ cheek. “Yes. Everything. From now on.”

“Tell me something now, then,” Sirius demanded.

Remus rolled his eyes, but it was with affection. He locked gazes with him. “Sirius Black,” he said, “I’ve been in love with you for most of my life.”

“That’ll do,” Sirius breathed.

Sirius smiled, and brought their lips together again, with gusto.

#

Harry and his friends had returned from their quest victorious, but they looked haggard in a way Remus could never have counted on. Oddly enough, Ginny Weasley, Molly and Arthur’s youngest, had also begun looking peaked. Various adults questioned them, and gave them potions to help with their vitality, but nothing really seemed to be the matter. Not one of them complained of anything.

If once Ginny or one of the others came down to eat supper twice in one night, it was odd, but no one really said anything about it. And if they said hi to each other more than was necessary, or repeated things, or forgot things, like what day it was, well. The stress of the times was getting to all of them, and they were, after all, just children, barely headed into adulthood. None of them should have to suffer through what they had.

Their little group seemed tighter than ever, and to Remus, it was painfully nostalgic. He was glad they had each other.  He knew if they survived, they would need their friendship to get through the nights when the memories seemed stronger than the present.

The final battle with Voldemort was brutal, but to Remus’ surprise and gratitude it was not half as bad as it should have been. George Weasley ended up paralyzed from the waist down, but if he was bothered by it, he never showed it. Remus himself was left with a limp he was sure would never heal. The important thing was, however, was that they all survived, Dumbledore and Severus Snape notwithstanding, of course, having fallen before the standoff.

He knew he had Sirius to thank largely for their success. It was he who had pushed Remus out of the way of the blast that got his leg, and if he hadn’t done that, he wouldn’t have been turned around in time to save Tonks from the spell that had been shot her way. He shuddered to think what would have happened to them otherwise.

He made sure to make it up to Sirius in the most intimate of ways, after they had slept in for the better part of a week.

#

Teddy was spinning in his chair, watching the sun creep across his floor and generally avoiding his chores, when the unfamiliar owl came and dropped a package on his desk. It mussed up his papers and left a few droppings before flying away hastily.

“Dads!” Teddy yelled. “Dads, I’m not allowed to do magic out of school, and this owl just came and mucked all over my stuff!”

“What was that?” A distant yell came from elsewhere in the house. It was followed by some creative cursing involving various parts of poor, saggy Merlin’s body. “Ask your father! I’m making a bloody mess of dinner!”

Teddy wrinkled his nose. His father Sirius was a lot of things that were good, but a good cook was not one of them. He foresaw takeout in their future, and made a mental note to ask his other dad about that when he came to clean up Teddy’s desk. Which he was sure he would. “Dad!” He called again. “Were-pop!”

“Teddy Lupin, you know where the cloths are,” his other father’s voice called, significantly closer. “An owl doesn’t make that much mess. Honestly. Your grandmother would have laughed me out of the house if I’d asked to use magic to clean up a mess that small.”

“Mum uses magic to clean up,” Teddy countered, his voice sing-songy. “At her house.”

Teddy spun in his chair, and waited. A moment later his dad appeared in his doorway, frowning. “What’s an owl doing here anyway?”

Teddy shrugged. His dad Remus flicked his wand and straightened up his desk. “Thanks.”

Remus huffed, but smiled at him. “Maybe it’s from Victoire, hm?”

Teddy blushed. “Get out, dad! Honestly. Oh! Wait. I think Sirius is making dinner.”

“Save us,” Remus laughed. “Takeaway tonight, then.” He ruffled Teddy’s hair, then frowned at the package. “Gringotts, eh?”

Teddy blinked in surprise. “Huh.” He picked it up. “It’s not very heavy. And wait, it’s got writing on it. It says – it says for my eyes only.”

His father’s frown deepened. “Let me see that.”

Teddy was in the process of handing it over when suddenly the whole room filled with a very loud, very familiar sounding voice.

“Remus Lupin!” It cried. “Keep your eyes to yourself. It’s quite important and I promise it’s not going to hurt Teddy. I’d never do a thing in the world to have that happen and you know it. And since I know you won’t believe me until I say so, that one exam you gave to the class had an error on it, but you didn’t believe me until we had cross-referenced three books in the restricted section and you realized you’d missed the notation at the bottom in Volume Seven of the Boggarts: A Secret History. And – I do hope you’re well, and everyone is happy, and oh, bother, I’m going to cry, so just don’t open this or you’ll ruin everything.”

Teddy and his father blinked at one another. “Was that Aunt Hermione?” Teddy asked incredulously.

“Is Hermione here?” Sirius’ voice called up the stairs. “Bollocks. I’ll have to make…” His voice trailed off into muttering too quiet to hear.

“No, love,” Remus called. “And I think we’re doing takeaway.”

“Brilliant!” His other dad’s voice cried. It was followed by a lot of clanging.

Father and son smiled at each other.

“Well.” Remus chewed his lip for a moment. “All right. Your aunt was the only one to know about that exam. It was a version I had drawn up for her as a make-up test for a missed class. We nearly got into a row about it.”

Teddy turned the package about in his hands. “Should I open it?”

“That’s up to you, I suppose,” Remus said. “If she sent you a private package, I can only assume there’s a good reason. Can I see it for a moment?”

Teddy turned it over to him. Hermione’s voice filled the room again.

“I forgot to add, you should get me for this. Your Aunt Hermione, that is. And your Uncle Harry. I do hope he’s still your Uncle. Oh, this is hard, planning ahead this far. I wonder if it will even make it to you. Remus, I know you’re probably still there, but if Teddy has Harry and I with him, then maybe you’ll stop worrying that this is a dangerous item, which it’s not. Unless everything’s messed up now, and…oh, do hurry, Teddy, would you? But please, read my note, first.”

Teddy glanced at his father. Remus nodded at him, looking pensive. He pulled the thick, folded piece of parchment out from the twine wrapping the package.

_Dear Teddy,_ it began.

_Dear Teddy, if you’re reading this, everything has been a success, and that’s wonderful news. My name is Hermione Granger. At the time I’m writing this, I’m your Aunt Hermione, and I do hope that is still true. This is, of course, a copy of the original note that I wrote, since I won’t be sure I’ll be there in the new future to write this. So please, tell me to write this again, and to bring it back with me. It’s very important that you do this._

_In my time, things have gone very wrong. Sirius Black is dead. I’m not sure if you’ll know him or not._

Teddy’s blood ran cold. Why would he not know his own father?

_And so is Remus Lupin._

Teddy looked up at his father.

“Teddy, what is it?” Remus said.

“I’m not sure you should read this,” Teddy said. “But I think everything is ok. But it wasn’t.”

“That makes no sense,” said his dad.

_But we’ve figured out a way to fix it. And it’s very important that you follow the instructions I’ve included to the letter. These are in the package with the time-turner._

Teddy’s heart began to race. He’d heard of them, time-turners, but they sounded like something of a myth. They were certainly very rare.

_You must have me – Hermione – go back in time three weeks, and have me leave the time-turner and the note – more detailed instructions like I’ve said are in the package – for Harry. Then have him do the same and leave it for Ginny Weasley. You might know her as Ginny Potter, your Aunt Ginny. I do so hope she’s still your Aunt Ginny. The three of us will have to do this for the rest of your – well, your entire life. In the past, that is. And then finally you must make sure I go to the Department of Mysteries on June 18, 1996 and stop Sirius Black from falling into the Veil. He was hit with a spell by Bellatrix Lestrange. It was all very tragic. We were tricked into going, you see, and Death Eaters had us trapped, until Harry’s godfather showed up. He died saving Harry. This should not have happened in your time, so it will be very confusing for everyone, I’m sure. But please trust me that if you’re reading this, and don’t know what I’m talking about, then you’re risking everyone’s futures and lives if you do not do this. You might not exist. I’m honestly not quite sure anything will. There’s been no documented occurrences of anyone changing history in quite this way. There’s no telling what it could do._

_Actually, I’m sure we shouldn’t be doing this at all. But so many things would have gone terribly wrong in my life, Teddy, if I hadn’t ever broken the rules._

_I will not have spent more than a decade thinking about this, so enclosed is also a list of exactly where I got the supplies needed for this plan to succeed, as well as a list of reference books I used to think everything through. I do hope it will be enough. I can’t begin to imagine what the future will be like if we succeed. I can only hope it will be better. Not for us, exactly, we’re all quite happy, and I am a bit worried that this will change things. But for Sirius Black and your father, Remus Lupin. They didn’t deserve what happened to them. So even with the risks, I do believe that this is the right thing to do. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to put things right._

_Please, once you get this, do hurry. You’ll need to have everything in order by tomorrow, and I will need to leave at exactly 7:02 p.m. tomorrow night. More details, as I’ve said, are enclosed._

_All my love,_

_Hermione Granger_

_P.S. Please do hurry._

Teddy stared at the letter in his hand.

“All right, Teddy?” His dad asked.

“I’m not sure,” Teddy said, honestly.

Suddenly his other dad appeared in the doorway. He put a hand on Remus’ shoulder. Remus covered it absentmindedly with his own. “What’s all this yelling, then? Why does it sound like Hermione Granger is screaming things in your bedroom?”

“I’m not exactly sure, Padfoot,” said Remus.

Teddy looked at the letter, and all it said. It was hard to believe this wasn’t some elaborate and unfunny prank. He had never known his Aunt Hermione to have much of a sense of humor, and much less a mean one.

_Sirius Black is dead,_ Hermione’s letter had said. _And so is Remus Lupin._

Suddenly he threw the letter to his desk and ran to his fathers. He pulled them both into a hug, even though Sirius was covered in flour and a mess of something Teddy couldn’t identify. His face hit his dad Remus’ jumpered shoulder and pressed into the stubbled cheek of his dad Sirius. He spat out a strand of Sirius’ wild black hair and smiled affectionately. They were still here. Everything was okay.

“What’s this all about, then?” Sirius asked, even as he hugged Teddy back tightly.

“I love you both,” Teddy said.

“We love you,” Remus said. His voice was bemused. “Is everything okay?”

Teddy stepped back, squaring his shoulders. He looked at them both, and said firmly. “It will be. I promise.”

And it was.

 

 

 


End file.
